The Professors Daughter
by Ritana
Summary: Ash and Misty have four daughters, three are 'perfect' the other isn't, and she dreams of becoming a Pokemon Master like her father. When she does, she doesn't realize whats she's getting herself into.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter one

            Ricki threw back her hair as she stared at her three sisters, Flora, Olive and Buttercup.  They were triplets, but not identical, and were daddy's and mommy's girls.  Ricki was different.  She wanted to become a trainer, but her parents, Ash and Misty Ketchum refused, leaving her to study more and more about Pokemon.  Ricki playfully tossed a toy Pok'eball in the air and caught it.  Ricki heard a knock at her door and told the knocker that they could come in,

"Ricki, your father and I have been thinking, "Ricki's mother said, "And you may go on your journey"

Ricki hugged her mom and grabbed a backpack hanging on her chair.  She quickly flung in her things and stuffed a few dollars into her bag along with clothing and Pokemon supplies,

"Bye mom!  I love you"

"Ricki!  It's 10:00 at night!  Tomorrow is the trainer meeting!"

Ricki fell to the floor,

"Whoops!"

Misty smiled,

"Your father says he has a special Pokemon for you tomorrow!"

Ricki hopped into bed and began going through her bag,

"I suppose packing a little better would be a good thing…."

Misty laughed,

"I suppose, and I have a story for you, did I ever tell you…never mind"

"Mom!  You've started something, what is it?"

"I'll tell you…when your older.."

"Mom!  I'm sixteen now thanks!"

"Fine…the reason we didn't want you to leave earlier is because when your father and I became trainers, a friend of ours died, Ash, your father, accidentally killed a man named Brock"

"You mean, uncle Brock?"

"Yes, it was sad, you see, your father and I were battling when Ash got mad for losing to me and he hit the cliff with his fist, causing an avalanche of rocks to come tumbling down, as Brock was rounding the corner, rocks fell on him, and killed him, Ash couldn't go on, he didn't see Brock in time, and…he was only twenty-one, so young, so dear a friend, you know the rest of the story…."

Ricki lowered her head,

"I didn't need to hear that"

"Yes you did, now hurry and pack and get to bed"

Misty turned off the lights and Ricki read a book before going to sleep, her bag still lying unpacked…

            "Ricki hurry up, other trainers are already there!"

Ricki finished packing her bag by adding a few Manga books and Gamepro issues and ran downstairs and grabbed a piece of toast and ran out the door with it in her mouth.  Ricki was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a black shirt with a white collar.  Ricki ran quickly to her dad's lab and finished her toast and tossed the crust to some scavenging Spearow. Ricki stopped in front of an anime store and noticed the newest issue of Anime Insider and walked I and bought it and browsed through it on her way to her dad's lab.  (Her dad, Ash, has taken over a lab near professor Oaks, which Gary Oak now runs).  Ricki notices a group of ten-year-olds and walks in embarrassed.  One girl looks up and sighs at the sight of Ricki,

"Look what a mangy Meowth dragged in!"

A few other girls snickered and some boys snickered too.  Ricki ran up to the girl forced her face near the girl,

"Who in the world do you think you are?"

The girl pushes Ricki away and laughs along with the other kids.  Ricki smiles,

"Well, I'm not a snobbish ignorant, little kid like you and the rest of you"

Ash walks in and all the girls become quiet,

"Oh Mr. Ketchum, can I have a Squritle?"

Ash looked at the girl with a smug look on her face and turned his attention to his daughter,

"Ricki, which Pokemon would you like?"

The girl earlier was named Kino and stuck out her tongue at Ricki.  Ricki ignored her and smiled at her dad,

"You know which Pokemon is my favorite!" Ricki waited for her fathers face to change, "Right?"

Ash pulled a pok`eball out of his Pocket and handed it to Ricki,

"I'm not allowed to give you a Houndour, because I don't have any, but, since you are following my footsteps, I think you'll like this one better"

Ricki threw her Pok`eball and out came a small Pichu.

"Ricki, I started out with a Pikachu, here is an updated Pokedex, an updated pokenavigear (or PNG, is a system used to give trainers a look for other trainers by examining a trainers current data, whcihc a trainer must update couninually to keep up-to-date with their battles, pokemon etc.  This device only lsits Pokemon, battles won, gym badges and a few other features not associated with the trainer parts including a cell phone and a trainer tracker) and five pok`eballs, this Pikachu is the fourth daughter of my Pikachu, just like you're my fourth daughter, I love you and good luck!"

Ricki hugged her father and ran out of the lab and locked her pok`eballs to her belt and placed her cell phone in her pack.  She released her Pichu and gave it a few berries.  She recalled her Pichu and turned around to see Kino,

"Let's have a battle, to settle this agreement."

            Ricki threw out her pok`eball,

"Go Pichu!"

"Go charmander!"

"Pichu use a thundershock on Charmander!"

"Dodge it charmander and use ember!" 

Charmander dodges the electricity and its fire scrapes past Pichu.  Pichu leaps at Charmander who dodges Pichu and smacks it with its tail.

"Alright Pichu!  Grab onto Charmadner's tail and use a thundershock!"

"Charmander, don't be stupid and shake off that Pichu!"

Pichu clings desperately to Charmander and shocks it badly.  Charmander pants as Pichu jumps on Charmander.  

"Charmander scratch attack with a ember attack finish!"

Charmander aimed an ember attack at Pichu, who dodged it,

"Pichu finish charmander with a thundershock, quick attack combo!"

Pichu races swiftly to Charmander and shocks him; causing Charmanders tail flame to become weaker.  Kino recalls Charmander and puts out her hand,

"Guess I'll smell you later!"

Ricki laughed,

"I hope to battle with you again soon!"

Kino waved good-bye and Ricki ran up to Kino,

"I need to apologize, I'm sorry I called you a snobbish Ignorant little kid, your not"

Kino nodded,

"It's my fault, I pushed you too far…. and I know your sisters and everyone give you a hard time"

Ricki sighed,

"I can't believe I said that though,"

"Hey, we're both the same age, I understand"

"No, age matters nothing, I'm truly sorry"

"I am too, but we're still rivals, just lets not call each other names and act so childish"

Ricki nodded,

"You got it!  Rival Kino!"

Kino and Ricki waved good-bye to each other as they went they're separate ways, Kino towards the forest of the trees (A forest filled with mostly grass Pokemon and fewer bugs) and Ricki to the Viridian forest, avoiding the large Viridian city.

            "Pichu…where are we?"

Pichu hopped off Ricki's shoulder and looked around,

"Pichu?"

Ricki sat down on a clump of moss,

"Let's camp here for the night, I probably should check out my PNG, lets see, one battle won today, no gym badges, new Pokemon is Pichu!"

Pichu looked up at Ricki,

"Pichu?" 

Ricki pulled out a box of cheese nips and gave some to Pichu.  Ricki grabbed another handful and ate some.  

"How are they Pichu?"

"Pichu!"

Ricki gave Pichu a box of juice and a straw and laid out her sleeping bag.  Ricki grabbed an Inu-Yasha manga and read a little before going to sleep, only to be awakened by a large growl.  Ricki looked up into the eyes of a large Houndour, more than two times the size of a normal Houndour.  Ricki woke up Pichu and looked at the Houndour, it was gone.

"Bummer, I thought I'd be able to catch one"

Ricki went back to sleep and dreamed of her dream Houndour she had just missed.


	2. Battle, Discovery and Mystery

Chapter 2

            The next morning Ricki and Pichu were up and set out quickly in search of new Pokemon.  

"I wonder what it says about you Pichu?"

Ricki pointed her pokedex at Pichu,

            PICHU THE PREVOLUTION OF PIKACHU, THE MOUSE POKEMON.  THIS POKEMON IS AN ELECTRIC TYPE THAT IS VERY PLAYFUL.

"Playful huh?  Do you see any other Pokemon Pichu?"

Pichu looked around and shrugged her shoulders.  Ricki sighed and the two walked on until they came to a clearing at mid-afternoon,

"Let's rest here for a few minutes and have lunch, I have some sandwiches if you want one"

Pichu hoped down off Ricki's shoulder and Ricki made the sandwiches and gave one to Pichu while she ate one.  They quickly finished and Ricki's PGN beeped.  

"A trainer must be nearby!"

Ricki jumped over a bush and was confronted by a tall boy with a green shirt and black hair.  Ricki introduced herself and challenged the trainer, Anthony, to a battle.  

"Alrgiht, lets make it a one-one battle is that okay with you?"

Pichu hoped off Ricki's shoulder,

"Sounds good to me"

Anthony threw out his pok`eball and a Bellsprout appeared, 

"Alright Bellsprout, lets go!"

"Pichu!  Use a spark attack!"

"Dodge it Bellsprout!"

Bellsprout twisted its flexible body out of the way,

"Vine whip it Bellsprout!"

Pichu was struck from behind and collided into the ground.

"Great job Bellsprout, now, use your vine whip once more!"

"Pichu!  When it strikes you, use a full force thundershock!"

Bellsprout rammed into Pichu and Pichu sent a large bolt of lighting into Bellsprout.  

"Bellsprout!"

"Alright Pichu!  Now finish it with a bite-spark attack!"

Pichu leaped at Bellsprout and bit into its roots and shocked it with a spark, leaving Bellsprout unable to battle.  Anthony recalled Bellsprout and nodded,

"You've battled hard Bellsprout return"

Anthony and Ricki shook hands and Anthony gave Ricki a few dollars,

"Payment for beating me, your really good, I guess Pichu was able to move faster than the graceful Bellsprout"

"Hey, could I see your Bellsprout once more?"

"Sure…I think its okay now"

Anthony released Bellsprout again and Ricki pointed her pokedex at Bellsprout,

            BELLSPROUT THE FLOWER POEKMON.  IF IT NOTICES ANYTHING THAT MOVES, IT IMMDEIATLY FLINGS ITS VINES AT THE OBJECT.

"Bellsprout must be a great Pokemon with its speed and flexibility."

"Kind of, it's not really fast, but its flexible, and cool"

"So Anthony, how long have you been a trainer?"

"A little while, about two weeks, and you?"

"I started yesterday"

"Looks like you have a bright future, but your lucky, I just caught this Pokemon early this morning"

"Your raising it well Anthony, do you have a PGN?"

"Yeap, it's really tight, you can store trainers numbers and keep up your Pokemon data"

"What's your number Anthony?"

"005-777"

Ricki wrote down the number in her PGN and handed Anthony her number,

"Give me a call sometime, maybe we can battle again"

"Agreed"

Ricki and Anthony waved good-bye and Ricki walked deeper into the forest.

            "A Bug!" Ricki screamed.

Pichu hoped up to the bug and looked at Ricki strangely.  Ricki bent down a little and looked at the small Caterpie and smiled,

"Sorry about that Caterpie, but you surprised me a bit"

The Caterpie bolted away and Ricki sighed,

"It was kind of cute"

Ricki and Pichu continued on until they spotted a red object in front of them.  Ricki slowly crept forwards and pointed her pokedex at the fire Pokemon,

            CHARMANDER, THE LIZARD POKEMON. IF IT'S HEALTHY THE FLAME ON THE TIP OF ITS TAIL WILL BURN VICOURSLY, EVEN IF IT GETS A BIT WET.

            "Wow a charmander!  I would love a Charmander!"

"Too bad though, you can't have it!"

Ricki turned around to see a trainer behind her with blonde hair,

"He's already yours, sorry"

"It's okay, he's sick and I've been trying to find a Pokemon center around here because I ran out of food to feed me and Charmander"

Ricki set her bag down and found an extra box of Pokemon food and a box of her cheese nips,

"Here, you can have these"

"Thank you trainer, you have passed"

"Passed?"

"Yes, you see I'm the son of the gym leader in viridian, and he welcomes only the good hearted trainers, here is your invitation!"

The boy handed Ricki a paper lined with gold writing and lines that read, "The bearer of this may battle Ron, the gym leader of viridian city".

"Thanks, but I'm saving him for last, I heard he's TOUGH!"

"Yes he is, but I think when you battle him for your final badge you'll succeed."

"Are you a trainer?"

"No, I'm not, I'm a breeder though, come here blaze, see this is my blaze"

"Aww, he's cute"

"A lot of girls say that, right blaze?"

"Char Char!"

"Thank you…"

"Boa"

"Boa, thank you, and seriously, are your hungry?"

"Naw!  Here's your food back, the exit to viridian is still far away, about a few days, but luckily I got a Rapidash, which cuts that time by a lot.

"You got a Rapidash?!  I love them!"

"You really like fire types don't you?"

"Yeah, Charmander, Rapidash, Ponyta, Houndour, Houndoom…"

"You should visit the fire desert, if you love fire Pokemon, it's a couple miles out of vermilion city.  Ask the people there and they can help you out with it"

"Thanks Boa!  Do you have PGN?"

"Yeah, my dad gave me one for my birthday, my numbers 005-67, see ya…

"Ricki!"

"Wait a sec, Ricki, the daughter of Ash?!"

"Yeap, that's me, and I have three older sisters"

"They don't train Pokemon do they?"

"Naw, they'd rather be out dating boys"

"See ya Ricki"

Ricki waved good-bye and gently put the paper in her bag and continued through Viridian forest.

            Ricki and Pichu continued through the forest and raised their hopes that they would find new Pokemon, but Ricki's pokedex still read the same. Ricki noticed it was getting dark and decided to rest for the day.  After her and Pichu ate Ricki gazed up at the stars and remembered what her mother had said, the night before she left,

"Your father accidentally killed him, but they were the best of friends, he could've been the best, but he was too sad to become a master.  After four years of grief, he became a master, then made a Pokemon lab and married me"

Ricki shook her head and jolted up to find herself in the eyes of the Houndour that she had seen the night earlier,

"Houndour!"

The Houndour growled for a moment and then ran away.  

"That Houndour…why did he appear like that?"

Ricki fell asleep, still thinking about the Houndour…

            "Alright Pichu!  Finish it with a spark attack!"

Pichu sent a jolt of electricity through a Scyther and it collapsed onto the ground,

"Pok'eball go!"

The Scyther was unable to get away and disappeared into the pok`eball.  It shook for a few seconds and finally the red light on the Pokemon faded and the pok`eball quit shaking.  Ricki picked up the pok`eball,

"Alright! I caught Scyther!"

Ricki threw Scythers pok`eball into the air,

"Come on out Scyther!"

Scyther appeared and Ricki gave him some Pokemon food,

Scyther nodded and continued to eat his food.

Ricki pulled out her pokedex and added her new info, Scyther caught.  

Ricki, Pichu and Scyther finished their lunch and Ricki recalled Scyther.  Pichu and Ricki continued through Viridian forest until they came to a spring where they stopped.   Ricki opened up her PGN and looked for the nearest trainer,

"Five miles, and still moving"

"Hey you!"

Ricki spun around to see an old man with a white beard,

"Are you Ricki, fourth daughter of Ash Ketchum and Misty Ketchum?"

"Yes…."

"Then I want to battle you, I battled Ash many years ago, and now I want to battle you!"

"You got it!"

"Let's make this a two-on-two battle…mister…"

"The names Charles, lets battle!"

Ricki threw out scythers pok`eball,

"Go Scyther!"

"Go Bayleef!"

"Scyther use slash attack!"

"Bayleef dodge it and use body slam!"

Bayleef charged full forced into Scyther who collapsed immediately,

"Scyther!" He's too tough, Ricki thought.  Ricki recalled Scyther but he jumped away,

"Scyther…don't push yourself!"

"Your Scyther has guts, now Bayleef!  Use your razor leaf, to take out that Scyther!"

"Scyther slash through those leaves and get that Bayleef!"

Scyther raced through the leaves and slashed into Bayleef.

"Scyther, use swords dance and finish off Bayleef!"

"Bayleef leap away!"

Scyther charged up with swords dance and raced into Bayleef and Bayleef collapsed. 

"Good job Scyther!"

"Your pretty good but lets see you take on this!"

Charles threw out a pok`eball and a Rhydon appeared,

"Let's see you conquer my most powerful Pokemon!"

Ricki nodded and recalled Scyther, 

"Pichu!  Use the same tactic that dad taught us!"

Pichu nodded and zipped up to the Rhydon and cling tightly to its horn,

"Now!  Give it a charged up thundershock!"

Pichu jolted Rhydon with a thundershock and slowly Rhydon fell to the ground.

"Alright!"

"No, how can this be?!"

Charles recalled his Rhydon and walked up to Ricki,

"Congrats, but how was your young Pichu able to defeat my old and powerful Rhydon?  It's impossible!"

"Not really, when a Pichu or any electric type can cling to a Rhydons horn, it acts like a poison, something like toxic, that slowly adds up and paralyzes your Rhydon"

"Oh I get it, so you were able to paralyze me doing that!"

"Yeap, but your Rhydon could've defeated mw with one strike though"

"Here Ricki, twelve dollars is my payment to you, I'll be rooting for you" Charles shouted as he began down a dark road that lead deeper into Viridian forest.

            Ricki looked around and noticed that the trees were getting less dense.  

"Pichu, looks like Viridian forest maybe coming to an end huh?"

"Pichu!"

Ricki looked ahead of her and noticed a Pokemon center.

"There it is Pichu!  The Pokemon center!"

Ricki and Pichu ran quickly towards the Pokemon center but stopped in their tracks,

"Wait a second, we can't be here already, we should still be in Viridian forest for a few more days, unless…."

Ricki felt a breeze go by and pointed her Pokedex at the breeze,

            GASTILY…


	3. Walking on

Chapter four

            Ricki, Pichu and Scyther had sat down for a rest.  Ricki took in the warm sun and looked at her PGN's map,

"It looks like it may be awhile still before we get to Pewter city?"  Ricki said confused.

Ricki looked over the map and realized they had taken the long form of viridian forest, which would leave them in viridian city now.  Viridian forest had expanded over the years and it had spread to Pallet town.  Trainers could take either the long forest way or cut through viridian then head to through the original Viridian city.  Ricki stuffed the last slice of pizza in her mouth.

"Hey you!"

Ricki turned around to see a man in hiker boats with a red bandanna; he looked to be about forty years old, standing above her,

"Yes?"

"Your Ash's daughter huh?  How about a battle?  Unless your afraid to lose!"

Ricki stood up,

"Let's make this a one-on-one battle, is that good with you?"

The man nodded,

"The names Ferdinand, and I choose Wartortle, go!"

Ricki focused her pokedex on Wartortle,

            WARTORTLE, THE TURTLE POKEMON.   ITS LONG, FURRY TAIL IS A SYMBOL OF LONGEVITY, MAKING IT QUITE POPULAUR AMONG OLDER PEOPLE.

"Me and Wartortle have been together for a long while, I won't lose!"

"We'll see, Pichu go!"

Pichu leaped in front of Wartortle,

"Pichu use a thundershock!"

"Wartortle go in your shell!"

Wartortle disappeared into its shell while Pichu aimed a thundershock, which was unable to penetrate the protected Wartortle.

"I have more battle experience, this battle will be over quickly, Wartortle aim a water gun at that Pichu!"

"Pichu look out and thundershock that water gun right back at Wartortle!"

Pichu dodged the water gun and aimed a powerful thundershock into Wartortle's water gun shocking it.

"Wartortle use a skull bash!"

"Pichu get out of the way and bite that Wartortle on the toes!"

Wartortle lowered its head and crashed directly into Pichu.

"Pichu, can you get up?"

Pichu struggled to get up but was able to stand up,

"Pichu don't push yourself too far!  Use a spark!"

Pichu shot a spark at Wartortle who was beginning to let its body sag in pain.

"Wartortle finish that Pichu with a surf attack!"

Wartortle flushed out water from its mouth and a tidal wave crashed into Pichu before Pichu was able to use a spark attack.  When the wave cleared Pichu was on the ground out cold,

"Pichu!"  Ricki screamed as she raced over to Pichu's side and gently picked her up and held her in her arms,

"Pichu, are you okay"

Pichu didn't respond and Ricki opened her pack and pulled out a potion drink and helped Pichu to drink it,

"Are you feeling better now?"

Pichu sat up a little and nodded,

"You're the toughest trainer I've faced so far!"

"I went easy on you, if your father was here…that was a battle to remember!"

Ricki looked up at Ferdinand,

"I'll still just starting, but…you battled my father?"

"Yes, he used his Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Squritle, they ko'ed all my Pokemon in one hit.  My attacks didn't even seem to hurt them"

"Thanks for the battle, can I have your number?"

"On my PGN?  It's 768-045"

"Thanks," Ricki said giving Ferdinand her number, "I hope that we can battle again soon"

"I hope the same, your getting stronger, this battle gave you and your Pokémon knowledge that you can't gain from winning, best of luck to you" Ferdinand waved good-bye and headed off towards a thick patch of trees.  Ricki threw out Scyther's pokeball,

"Scyther, its time for a little training okay?"

Scyther jumped up and sliced the air with its scythes and yelled its unique call.

"Alright Scyther, you see that tree over there? " Ricki said pointing to a fallen log, "cut it into nine logs for our camp fire and fly them over here"

Scyther nodded and ran up to the tree and sliced the log into nine pieces and quickly carried them over to Ricki,

"Great work!  You can practice on your own now, let Pichu practice with you, I'll going to start supper, I think we'll have a big meal tonight, does fish sound okay for you guys?"

"Scyther!  Pi!"  Scyther and Pichu chimed together.

Ricki laughed and pulled out five frozen fish from her pack,

"Scyther, could you cut a piece of wood as a frying pan for me?"

Scyther quickly raced to a fallen log and carefully cut out a flat piece of wood with a jutted out end and carved a deep center into it and carried it over to Ricki,

"Thanks Scyther, if you get tired of training you can take a rest, the same goes for you Pichu," Scyther and Pichu took of to a moss bed and practiced a few battle moves while Ricki placed the log pieces in a circle and lit a match.  She placed the boneless fish into the frying pan and held it over the warm fire.  When her arm got tired she tied vines onto the fishes ends and hung the over the fire, letting the grease fall into the fire making a sizzling sound.  The aroma was carried by the wind over to Scyther and Pichu who came over near the fire and watched, as the fish got closer to done.  Ricki heard a rustle behind her and turned around to see a Chikorita.  

"Wow a Chikorita!  The poor thing looks half starved"

Ricki, Pichu and Scyther watched as the Chikorita edged closer to the fish and fire.  Ricki opened up her bag and pulled out a bag of carrots.  Ricki picked up the Chikorita and pulled it away from the fire,

"You shouldn't eat meat, it might make you sick, here, you can have come carrots if you want" Ricki said handing Chikorita a few carrots which it quickly wolfed down.  Ricki gave Chikorita a few more carrots and noticed the fish were done and gave two to Scyther, one to Pichu and ate two herself and gave Chikorita a few more carrots, which finished half the bag.  Ricki stood up and noticed dark clouds were brewing in,

"Scyther, Pichu, lets find a place to stay until the storm blows over.  Ricki, Pichu and Scyther cleaned up their campsite and packed away everything as the wind picked up.  Ricki recalled Scyther and picked up Chikorita and ran quickly through the forest looking for a cave as it started to rain.  The rain got harder and harder the further they went.  Ricki noticed a small cave buried under some vines and quickly tried to pull them aside.  Ricki released Scyther and together the four of them tore away the vines and entered the small cave.  It was dark and it smelled of mold, but they were dry.  Ricki, Scyther and Pichu leaned against the cave wall and watched, as the rain seemed to fall so hard it was impossible to see,

"Wow, its raining Meowth and Eevee out there!"

Ricki closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, ignoring her Pokemon who chatted to themselves,

PICHU: Hi Chikorita!

SCYTHER: Where do you come from?

CHIKORITA: I come from the forests around here, I was chased away by my trainer who lives here, but, I lost a battle, and he said I was worthless then I saw you guys and noticed how much your trainer cares about you, so I wandered here.

SCYTHER: Sounds like your trainer was the worthless one.

CHIKORITA: I guess so…. I wonder if your trainer will let me stay here?

PICHU: Of course!  She's really nice and we eat a lot after we train hard.

CHIKORITA: Thanks, both of you.

Pichu and Scyther put out their hands to Chikorita,

"Welcome to the group!"

            Ricki awoke yawning and looked out the cave door as tiny water droplets dripped down the caves entrance,

"I'm glad it stopped, you ready to go Pichu and Scyther?"

Pichu and Scyther walked up behind Chikorita.  Chikorita walked up to Ricki and hopped on Ricki's head,

"Hey!  You want to come with us Chikorita?"

"Chiko!"

Ricki smiled,

"Chiko!  Rita!!"

Ricki recalled Scyther and Chikorita and clipped their pok`eballs to her belt.  Pichu climbed up onto Ricki's shoulder and Ricki pulled away a fallen branch from the entrance of the cave.  Ricki took in the fresh air and looked in front of her.  Trees had crashed all around the cave and she kicked a few out of the pathway to the trail and looked behind her.  

"Strange, the damage isn't as severe behind us…" Ricki said noticing fewer branches lying on the ground in heaps.  Ricki shrugged it off and continued down the trail for a few miles before pulling out her map,

"Let's see…we should reach Viridian city if we cut west from here and travel that way until evening, we could probably reach it tonight!"  

Ricki sighed and turned west,

"My dad knows some people there, and I think I need to buy some more food"

Ricki walked on heading west and continued counting down the miles to Viridian city.  The Sky became darker and darker the further Ricki went on, until a bright red light lit up the sky in front of her and the trees lining the path grew lesser and lesser.  Ricki ran quickly to the end of the woods and looked out in front of her,

"Alright!  It's Viridian city, we've made it Pichu!"

Ricki ran quickly to the town square and looked around.  Most buildings were closed except the Pokémon center, which Ricki entered.  No one stirred inside and Ricki rang the bell on the counter and a tired Nurse Joy stepped out from the back with a yawn she asked,

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Ricki looked at a nearby clock and blushed,

"12:03 in the morning"

"Oh well, we have some beds in back, just go into the last one on the left" With another yawn Nurse Joy went back into the room she had come out of.  Ricki headed back into the rooms and found the last room on the left and put on her nightclothes and went to sleep.


	4. An unlikely Meeting

Chapter 3

            Ricki listened closely to her pokedex as she watched the purple and black moving figure glide over the air around her.

GASTILY THE GAS POKEMON. WITH ITS GAS-LIKE BODY, IT CAN SNEAK INTO ANY PLACE IT DESIRES. HOWEVER, IT CAN BE BLOWN AWAY BY THE WIND.  GASILTY IS IMMUNE TO NORMAL ATTACKS.

"Scyther won't work on Gasilty, but maybe Pichu can shock it"

The Gastly had stopped dead still and opened its pale white eyes at Ricki,

"Well, Well, if it isn't the daughter of Ash and Misty"

Ricki let her mouth hang out,

"How can…how do you know?"

"Easy…I'm really a trainer…or was…. until…"

"Wait a second...are you by any chance Brock?"

"Brock…. no of course not…. okay…yeah I am"

"Did my father really…. accidentally kill you?"

"No he didn't, you see…I cut myself when I was making supper and the rocks didn't really hurt me…they probably wouldn't have killed me anyways…."

Ricki edged away from Brock,

"So a knife cut killed you, why didn't you tell my father!?"

"I did…that was what made him sad…. but he got over it…"

"Can you show yourself…in human form?"

"Human?  That is the past…I'm but a ghost now…wandering…"

"Shouldn't you be…. somewhere else though?"

"Yes, but something has kept me to this world…. it was you…"

"Me?  You died before I was born…."

"Yes…. but you see…. I can't tell you this…not until your journey's over…"

"Tell me now Brock, tell me now!"

Brock slowly began to fade and drift away as the wind picked up,

"Ricki…. I'll see you again…never forget…."

Brock disappeared into the wind and left Ricki and Pichu starring blankly into space.  Ricki stood for a long time, staring off into the sky, waiting and hoping she could make sense of the entire conversation.  She felt a tap at her back and spun around to see a man in a blue trench coat waving a Lanturn above her,

"Ma'am, its raining, are you okay?"

Ricki lifted her hand and felt as raindrops plummeted onto her hand.  In her deep thought she had not realized it was raining,

"I'm fine," Ricki looked behind the man and noticed a carriage, "I didn't know they still had carriages"

"They don't, this is mine, I fixed it up and that's how I drive, how I dislike technology with all the cars, video games and such…. the names Dave, and you are…?

"Ricki" Ricki said extending her hand, which Dave shook, "Are you a trainer?"

"Of course not!  Trainers use Pokemon like slaves, I'm glad your different, you let your Pichu ride on your shoulder"

"Yes, Pichu is a special friend to me"

"Well, I need to get back home…need a lift, Ms. Ricki?"

"No thanks…I like to walk in the rain"

Dave nodded, "Thank my umbrella at least, it'll keep you a little dry"

Ricki thanked him and Dave got back into his carriage and rode away.  Ricki opened the umbrella and began walking through the rain,

"Listen Pichu, just forget whatever we saw okay?"

"Pi?" Pichu said puzzled.

"Just…please…"

Ricki and Pichu continued through the rain.  It was getting darker and darker in the sky and it was growing hard to see.   The path in front of Ricki and Pichu was lined with trees and a muddy path that strove out for seemilingley endless miles.  Ricki looked at Pichu who had fallen asleep on her shoulders.  Ricki smiled and wished she could find a cave or something soon, so they could take a rest.  Ricki continued on even though her legs were aching and her feet had developed blisters and were wet with cold.  The rain only seemed to be coming down harder and harder.  Ricki noticed a small cabin up ahead and walked across the rocky steps and rang the doorbell.  No answer.  Ricki knocked a few more times and the door creaked as an old woman answered the door.  The old woman's face was wrinkled and warm and her hair was held back tightly in a bun,

"Ma'am, my name is Ricki, can I stay here until the rain clears up?"

"Yes you may Ricki, I don't get visitors very often, come in, come in"

Ricki stepped into the old woman's house.  It smelled of oak and pine and a pie was baking in the oven.  The old woman motioned for Ricki to sit down and she brought out some tea.  Ricki took a sip,

"Thank you ma'am, can I release my Pokemon?"

"Yes, my Pokemon would like the company"

"You have Pokemon?"

"Yes I do, a Venonat, an Oddish, a Bellsprout and a Houndoom,"

Ricki released Scyther and woke up Pichu,

"This is Pichu and Scyther"

"My Venonat is Vine, Oddish is named Chikorita, Bellsprout is named Whitney and Houndoom is Houndy"

Ricki looked at the old woman's Pokemon and petted Houndy on the head,

"Your Pokemon are very healthy looking"

"Thank you, I don't have enough energy or money these days, so Whitney, Chikorita and Venonat tend to my garden and Houndy does all my running around"

Ricki pulled out her Pokedex, lets see what it says about Oddish, Houndoom and Venonat,

            HOUNDOOM THE DARK POKEMON.  THE PUNGENT-SMELLING FLAME THAT SHOOTS FROM ITS MOUTH RESULTS FROM TOXINS BURNING IN ITS BODY.  HOUNDOOM IS THE EVOLVED FORM OF HOUNDOUR.

            ODDISH, THE WEED POKEMON.  THIS POKEMON BURIES ITSELF IN THE GORUND AND LOOKS LIKE COMMON GRASS; UT WHEN ITS LEAVES ARE PULLED IT MAKES A HORRIBLE SCREAM.

            VENONAT, THE INSECT POKEMON.  THE SMALL BUGS IT EATS APPEAR ONLY AT NIGHT, SO IT SLEEPS IN A HOLE IN A TREE UNTIL NIGHT FALLS.

"Is that a pokedex?"

"Yes ma'am, its an updated model it contains info on every Pokemon that is known to exist"

"Technology these days, wish I had it when I started Pokemon training"

Ricki looked out the window and noticed that the rain was beginning to slow down,

"What time is it…ms…."

"My names Gertrude, and its 12:00, if you want, you may stay here tonight, it wouldn't be much fun to sleep on the cold wet ground would it?"

"No, thank you"

"I'll show to the spare bedroom"

Ms. Gertrude got up from her chair and lead Ricki down the hall to a small room with a bed and a dresser,

"Make yourself at home, if you don't want your wet clothes, I have a washer right next door, just give it to my Chansey,"

"You have a Chansey also?"

"Yes, but she's on a vacation at the moment…she should be back in the morning though"

"Thank you"

Ricki went into her room and took off her wet clothes and put on her dry ones.  Ms. Gertrude came by and gave her and her Pokemon a bit to eat and the trio went to sleep.

            "Thanks Chansey thanks Ms. Gertrude!"  Ricki said waving good-bye as she left the cabin the next morning.

"Thank you for the company!" Ms. Gertrude said waving good-bye.

Ricki looked out into the sky and noticed a bird flying overhead with rainbow wings,

"What…. what's that?"

Ricki pulled out her pokedex and looked back into the sky and couldn't find the bird with rainbow wings,

"Pichu…what was that?"

"Pichu!  Pichu!"

Ricki laughed and continued on her way,

"One day, I'll see all the Pokemon, and we'll meet again…Rainbow bird"


	5. Episode 5

Chapter five

            "Sorry about last night ma'am"

"It's okay," Nurse Joy said sweetly, "It happens all the time.  But I need to see your PGN please"

Ricki handed Nurse Joy her PGN and watched as Nurse Joy plugged in the PGN to her computer…let's see now…your name is Ricki Ketchum, age 16, right?"

"Yes"

"What Pokemon do you have?"

"I have a Scyther, a Chikorita and a pichu"

"Alright, now…do you have any numbers saved onto your memory?"

"I haven't saved any on my PGN"

"If you want to you can, it won't be known to the public so you don't need to worry"

"Alright, Anthony 005-777, Boa 005-67 and Ferdinand 768-045"

Nurse Joy punched in the numbers and handed Ricki's PGN back to Ricki,

"You PGN is updated now, just sit down and your Pokemon will be healed shortly"

Ricki took a seat next to a girl with blonde hair in two pink ponytails.  The girl was combing out an Eevee's fur and humming a soft tune.  Ricki turned to the girl and said,

"Hi, my names Ricki, what's yours?"

The girl looked up and smiled innocently,

"My names Gabby, how does my Eevee look to you?"

Ricki took the Eevee and petted its soft fur,

"Very good, are you working to be a breeder?"

"Yeap…my dad's older brother was a breeder…but he died"

"Oh…I'm sorry" Ricki suddenly remembered the story of Brock's ten brothers and sisters "Was his name Brock?"

"I can't remember, I'm not very good with names, but I think it did begin with a B"

"Do you come from Pewter city?"

"Yes I do, my dads the new gym leader…since my grandfather died last year"

Ricki nodded,

"I'm heading there soon, when I get back my Pokemon"

"Could you take me there please?"

"Sure, did you lose your party?"

"Yeah, they left without me, saying I was too weak, and that I was slowing them down because I'm a breeder, not a trainer"

"So?  Being a breeder is very important"

"That's what I said…oh well…here's my Pokemon, you've meet Eevee, but I also have a Skitty, come on out!"

Gabby threw out her pok`eball and a Pokemon with red fuzzy hair appeared.  Ricki pointed her pokedex at Gabby's Pokemon;

            SKITTY, THE KITTEN POKEMON. SKITTY HAS A HABIT OF BECOMING FASINATED BY MOVING OBJECTS AND CHASING THEM AROUND.  THIS POKEMON IS KNOWN TO CHASE AFTER ITS OWN TAIL AND BECOME CONFUSED.

            EEVEE THE EVOLUTION POKEMON.  ITS ABILITY TO EVOLVE INTO MANY FORMS ALLOWS IT TO ADAPT SMOOTHLY AND PERFECTLY INTO ANY ENVIRONMENT.

"You're doing very well with your Eevee and Skitty."

"Thank you," Gabby and Ricki heard an elevator chime and walked over to the counter.  Ricki took back her Pokemon and clipped Chikorita's and Scyther's Pok`eball to her belt.  Gabby and Ricki exited the Pokemon center and sniffed the air smelling pancakes,

"How about some breakfast Gabby?"

"I sure am hungry!  My treat!"

Ricki stopped,

"Um...Gabby, how old are you?"

"I'm ten years old"

"Okay, I didn't mean to be rude or anything"

"You weren't, this place is the best!" Gabby said pointing to the Waffle house.  Ricki and Gabby entered and looked around. Some people were already enjoying their breakfast.  Gabby and Ricki sat at a table next to a window and waited for the waitress to take their orders,

"What do you want Gabby?"

"I'll just have five pancakes, bacon and egg with toast and jelly" Gabby watched as Ricki lifted her eyebrows in confusion, "And orange juice…I like to eat…but I have a high metabolism"

Ricki nodded as the waitress came to take their order,

"Two pancake combos, one scrambled egg with bacon, two orange juices and one toast with grape jelly please"

The waitress left and Ricki rested her head on the table,

"I hope I got your order right"

"You did, thanks, so we're off to Pewter city after this?"

"Yeap, we should be able to get there in about five days or less, depending on the weather and things"

Ricki and Gabby noticed the waitress arriving with their food and set it down along with the bill.  Ricki gently lifted it up and gave a sigh of relief and began eating her breakfast,

"Gabby, you want to be a breeder right?  Have you ever been to Goldenrod?  They have a academy just for breeders there"

"No I've never been any farther than Viridian city or outside of Pewter City, I want to go there someday to get my breeding license and then move back to Pewter city and open up my own business."

"I bet you can do it, your Pokemon are very well treated and groomed"

"Thanks, what do you want to be?"

"I'm going to be a Pokemon master"

"You have a long road ahead then, it's going to be tough to beat Ash Ketchum"

"He is tough,"

Ricki and Gabby finished their breakfast and headed to the department store and bought some food and Ricki restocked her potions and Gabby stopped before they entered Viridian Forest,

"There's something in these woods that always seems so strange…"

Ricki looked at Gabby puzzled,

"Strange how, in a good way or bad strange?"

"Neither, but anyways…lets go!"

Ricki nodded and the two entered the Viridian forest.

            Ricki spotted a trainer ahead and her PGN quickly rang,

"Would you like to try a battle Gabby?"

"I guess it would be okay"

Ricki went up to the trainer.  He had blue eyes and thick mossy hair.  His clothes were completely green and his shorts had grass stains all over them,

"Hello, my friend Gabby would like to battle you, then I'll battle you if that's okay"

"Sure thing!  I've been looking for a trainer to battle for days, the names Hennery"  

Gabby stepped forward and eyes the boy.  He looked about her age,

"Alright Gabby, how about a two on two battle?"

"Works for me, I've never battled before so…I might not do to good"

"No problem, I choose you Weedle!"

"Eevee go!"

Both Pokemon appeared in a flash of red light and eyed each other,

"Weedle use string shot!"

"Eevee evade it and use a tackle!"

Weedle quickly shot out a long strand of silk at Eevee who dodged it and rammed into Weedle.  Weedle shot another long string of silk and Eevee became stuck in it.

"Now Weedle use a poison sting!"

"Eevee!  Try to break free and use a headbutt!"

Eevee managed to get out, but not before being struck by some of the poison stings that Weedle had released.  Eevee rammed Weedle with a headbutt and Weedle was sent flying into a tree.

"Weedle get back up and try another poison sting!"

"Eevee use another tackle attack!"

Both Pokemon's attack hit the other and each was growing faint,

"Hang in there Weedle, finish off Eevee with a poison sting attack!"

"Eevee try and dodge it and use a headbutt!"

Weedle shot out multiple poison stings, which Eevee dodged and then rammed hard into Weedle.  Weedle stood up but collapsed and Hennery recalled his Weedle,

"Good job Weedle, you've earned a good rest.  Your pretty good Gabby, but lets see you face my next Pokemon, go Caterpie!"

Gabby recalled Eevee and threw out Skitty's pok`eball,

"Go skitty!"

"Don't worry Caterpie you can do it, start with a string shot and tangle up Skitty!"

"Skitty evade it and use attract!"

Caterpie tangled up Skitty and began tackling Skitty,

"Keep on tackling Skitty Caterpie!"

"Skitty use attract next time Caterpie attacks you!"

Skitty's eyes lit up and Caterpie stopped its rampage and fell to the ground staring lovingly at Skitty,

"What's happened to Caterpie?" Hennery said stunned.

"Easy, attract makes a Pokemon of the opposite gender fall in love with its cute looks for a short time, for example, my Skitty is female and your Caterpie is male, making your Pokemon fall in look with my Skitty's cuteness, making it unable and unwilling to attack skitty.  Now Skitty tackle Caterpie until it faints!"

"Caterpie shake it off and use tackle again!"

Caterpie didn't respond and Skitty continued its assault of tackles on Caterpie who was getting weaker and weaker.

"There's no way I can win this battle, I don't want to risk losing Caterpie, and I forfeit"

Gabby nodded and recalled her Skitty as Hennery recalled his Caterpie,

"Great job Gabby, is there any way to get rid of attract?"

"Yes, a loud noise, if a Pokemon under attracts effect was to hear a very, very loud scream or noise they would instantly awake from their false love"

"Thanks I'll remember that, didn't that other girl want to battle me too?"

Ricki stepped forwards,

"I challenge you to a three-on-three battle!"

"Challenge accepted, what's your name?"

"Ricki,"

"Wow, the masters own daughter?  I'll make sure I put everything I got into this battle, I choose Scyther!"

"I'll use my own Scyther, go!"

"Scyther use your slash attack!" Hennery shouted.

"Scyther use your wing attack!"

The two scythers collided and were sent flying back before launching their attacks again,

"Scyther use swords dance and attack her Scyther with a slash attack!"

"Scyther use a swords dance and use a slash attack!"

Hennery's Scyther was thrown back into a tree and Henry recalled his Scyther and threw out his next Pokemon,

"My next Pokemon won't be so easy, go Pinsir!"

"Scyther how are you can you still fight?"

Scyther nodded and prepared to battle its next opponent,

"Scyther use another swords dance and then attack with a slash attack!"

"Pinsir use vice grip to hold Scyther and then throw him for a loop!"

Pinsir raced over to Scyther who had just completed its sworddance and gripped it tightly.  Pinsir swung Scyther around and then threw him into a nearby tree, lifting up smoke all around them.  Ricki waited for the dust to clear as Pinsir edged closer to the fallen Scyther.  When suddenly Scyther jumped up and slashed away at Pinsir.  Pinsir fell back and Hennery recalled his Pinsir,

"I'd like to know how your Scyther just did that"

Ricki shrugged and recalled the worn out Scyther and threw in her next Pokemon, go Chikorita!"

Henry smiled and titled his tan hat,

"Go Heracross"

"Chikorita!  Use vine whip!"

"Heracross use horn attack!"

Chikorita was struck hard by Heracross and tumbled backwards,

"Chikorita tackle Heracross!"

Chikorita raced into Heracross and whipped it with a vine before Heracross tossed Chikorita into the ground,

"Finish it Heracross with a tackle!"

"Chikorita get out of the way!"

Heracross tackled Chikorita form behind and Chikorita collapsed,

"Chikorita!"  Ricki watched as Chikorita slowly stood up and tackled into Heracross.  Heracross stared puzzled at Chikorita and looked at Hennery,

"Finish it Heracross!" Hennery said angrily.

Heracross rammed Chikorita who dodged it and tackled Heracross again.

Ricki recalled Chikorita and motioned for Pichu to battle,

"Pichu use a thundershock!"

Pichu powered up and struck Heracross who collapsed.

"No way!" Hennery said recalling his Heracross.

Henry walked up to Gabby and Ricki and shook their hands,

"You gals are pretty good, maybe we can battle again someday?"

Ricki handed Hennery her PGN number and he gave her his.  She added it into her memory (she learned how so she doesn't need to get it updated every time she goes to the Pokemon center).  Ricki and Gabby said good-bye to Henry and headed deeper into Viridian forest woods.  That night Ricki fell asleep and awoke to hearing a yelp.  Jumping up she slowly creped over to a bush where she had heard the yelp. Ricki peered through the bushes and noticed the large Houndour that she had seen two nights in a row.  It noticed her and growled furiously and raced after her.  Ricki screamed and raced quickly back to the camp.  Wile running she felt a tug at her pants leg and was pulled down.  She stared at the Houndour as it drew closer and echoed one last scream.


	6. No, Houndour!

Chapter Six

Ricki knew she was done for and closed her eyes tightly and lifted her hands to protect herself,

"Please Houndour…don't!"

The Houndour drew close enough so Ricki could feel the Houndours breath, it was warm and harsh.  Ricki lifted scyther's pok`eball from her belt and threw it out.  Houndour plummeted it back at Ricki with its head.  Ricki gulped and silently said,

"Pichu…"

Ricki looked over to her Pichu who was still sleeping.  Ricki was too afraid to move and knew there was only one thing left to do.  With her leg she kicked away Houndour and stood up and spit into the ground,

"Now tell me, what do you wish of me!"

The Houndour stunned stood up shaky and growled,

"Fine."

Ricki was taken by the Houndour response, since it was very rare that Pokemon could speak the human language.  

"You can talk, I knew there was something different about you"

"Does it really matter to you?"

Ricki looked at the Houndour with a stern look,

"Of course it maters to me, and why have you been attacking and stalking me?!"

"That's none of your concern!  Pokemon like myself in this matter are sworn to secrecy"

"I'm sorry, so why are you talking to me?"

Houndour lowered his head and became in deep thought,

"You dropped this," Houndour said picking up a red piece of fabric inside was money and coins.  Ricki took it and smiled,

"I guess I dropped my money"

"Rather odd of you humans to carry your money like that"

Ricki smiled half heartedly,

"Yeah well, my wallet broke right before I left on my Pokemon journey, I guess I never really got around to getting another one so I used that, I guess it fell out, thank you, that was very sweet of you"

"Don't thank me, now I'll be on my way if you please"

Ricki nodded and got out of Houndour's way,

"Are you okay?"

The Houndour turned around sharply,

"Shut up!  That's none of your concern!" 

Houndour turned around and began walking back into the woods.  Ricki sighed and dialed up her dad but stopped and turned off her PGN,

"This can wait till morning," Ricki said and went back to sleep.

            "Hey Ricki, look at this tracks, they look like a dog Pokemon's"

Ricki studied the tracks and remembered her experience from the night before,

*You dropped this…*  

*I guess I dropped my money……….Are you okay?"*

*Shut up!  That's none of your concern! *

            Ricki sat down and gazed at the tracks and thought, there was something wrong with Houndour, I wonder what?  Gabby sat down next to Ricki,

"I bet they were Houndour, what do you think Ricki?"

Ricki nodded,

"Maybe, or they could be something more…we'd better get going, four more days and we should be out of here, at the rate we're going"

Gabby stood up and picked up her backpack.  Ricki grabbed her backpack and they began through the woods.  Ricki looked around and Gabby looked at Ricki puzzled,

"You've been quiet all morning, and you look like you're in deep thought, what's up?"

"Oh…. its nothing…"

Gabby dropped her smile and the two traveled silently for the rest of the day.

"It's getting dark Ricki, how much progress have we made today?"

Ricki opened up her PGN and studied the map,

"We've made pretty good traveling today, we might be able to reach the end of Viridian forest by tomorrow night…"

"Tomorrow night huh?"

Gabby and Ricki began setting up for night and they each let out their Pokemon,

"Gabby, what's pewter city like?"

"It's not too big of a city, its like it was thirty years ago, you've never been?"

"No I haven't, my father and mother…. have a bad memory there"

"Oh, I understand, looks like the soup is done"

Ricki looked at the soup and grabbed a couple of bowls that Gabby had set aside and poured the steaming vegetable soup into each bowl,

"Hey guys!  Come and get it!"

The Pokemon looked up and ran over to the soup bowls and Ricki handed each a bowl and each Pokemon wolfed down their soup.  Gabby poured herself a bowl and Ricki a bowl and they wolfed it down,

"The vegetables around here go great in your veggie soup Gabby" 

"Thanks, my dad taught it to me, and he learned it from a man named Brock"

Ricki dropped her empty bowl onto the ground,

"Brock?!"

"Oh, yes, he was my uncle, he died from a knife cut"

Ricki became silent and picked up her bowl and washed it in a nearby river and came back to pick up the remaining bowls and washed them.  Gabby had begun laying out bed for the Pokemon of blankets and laid out her sleeping bag.  Ricki handed Gabby back her bowls and laid out her Sleeping bag,

"Goodnight Gabby"

"I'm sorry, Good-night"

Ricki closed her eyes tightly,

"Your smart Gabby, you were able to easily figure out that's my families bad memory"

Gabby said nothing and drifted to sleep.  Ricki stared up into the sky and sighed, thousands of bright stars lighted the sky.  She smiled and went to sleep, not hearing anything as the wind rustled through the trees.

            "Ricki wake up!"  Gabby screamed shaking Ricki violently, "Recall your Pokemon, we've got to get out of here!"

Ricki bolted up and looked around her, the forest was ablaze with fire and smoke.  Ricki coughed harshly and recalled Scyther, Chikorita and picked up Pichu and ran.  Gabby was nowhere to be seen and she raced quickly through the flames.  Her backpack fell over her back, uncomfortably.  She didn't care and ran harder and harder as charcoaled trees fell all around her.  In front of her were bright streetlights of a city, and Gabby,

"Ricki!  Come on this way!"

Ricki plowed through the forest and collapsed on the street and looked back as the forest grew brighter with the choking red flames.  In the middle of the fire was Pichu, coughing and crying.  Ricki threw off her pok`eballs and backpack,

"Gabby, if I don't make it." A loud crash sounded as a tree fell close to Pichu, creating a thick fiery barrier, "Watch my Pokemon and tell everyone I'm sorry!"

Ricki raced into the forest and leaped over the log and grabbed Pichu and held her close,

"It's okay Pichu, I got you!"

Ricki jumped back over the log and felt her foot snag onto a log.  Pichu slipped out of her arms and skidded onto the sidewalk on the city in front of her.  Pichu raced closely to Gabby who was desperately screaming,

"Ricki get out of there!"

Another log of fire fell near Ricki, hitting her face and she screamed in pain.  Gabby moved away further and Ricki tugged at her shoelace that was caught on a log.  Ricki got her foot free and as she was standing she heard a piercing cry from Gabby.  Ricki looked above her as a log of fire came from directly above her.  She screamed and tired to cover her face as it hit her, and there was no pain.

            Ricki bolted up, sweat dripped down her face,

"It was just a dream"

Ricki sat up and shivered, it was cold in the night.  Ricki looked around, Gabby and the Pokemon were sound asleep.  Ricki sighed and went to the river and cupped some water with her hands and drank, it was cold and refreshing.  Ricki wiped her mouth and went back to bed.  She looked up at the stars and couldn't fall back to sleep.  She pulled out her PGN and looked at the map and figured it would take two more days of nonstop traveling to reach Pewter city, but if they did stop, it would take three more days. Ricki put her PGN back and looked into the sky,

"That dream…it was so real…I even feel warm from the fire, and my mouth tastes like fire, but maybe I'm just coming down with something."

 Ricki put away her PGN and slowly fell back to sleep.

            It was afternoon the next day when Ricki and Gabby spotted a fenced area and large pastures.  Gabby leaned against the fences and looked at the Pokemon racing through the long grasses,

"Wow, Ponyta and Rapidash!"

"It's a farm…"  Ricki said raising her eyebrows in dislike.

"You have something against farms?"

"I hate them"

"Hate is a strong word,"

"It just doesn't appeal to me, but whatever floats your boat"

Gabby rolled her eyes and looked behind her to see a teenage boy with a bucket of oats in both his hands.  Gabby tugged at Ricki's sleeve and Ricki looked behind her and blushed.

"You gals, are you trainers?"

Ricki and Gabby nodded.  Ricki looked at the boy, he had one khaki pants and a blue denim shirt with a shirt under it.  Silver hair fell below his chin, straight and perfectly.  His eyes were blue and he smiled at Ricki,

"The names Jacob, welcome to Breeze farm"

"Are you a farmer," Ricki blurted out accidentally.

"No, this is my cousins farm, I'm just helping out, how about a battle…girls.."

Ricki stepped up,

"I'm Ricki, and I accept your challenge Jacob"

Jacob smiled and pulled a blue pok`eball from his belt,

"Let's make it a three one three battle"

Ricki pulled out Chikoritas pok`eball and nodded,

"Agreed," and threw out Chikoritas pok`eball, "Go Chikorita!"

"I choose you Ponyta!"

Chikorita appeared and a white hoarse with a fiery mane appeared from Jacob's pok`eball.

"Chikorita use vine whip!"

"Ponyta use ember!"

Chikorita slapped Ponyta with a vine whip and Ponyta aimed a fierce rain of fire onto Chikorita, who stood stunned,

"Ponyta use a tackle!"

"Chikorita use leech seed!"

Chikorita leaped out of the way of Ponyta and fired a seed into Ponyta and a set of vine wrapped around Ponyta who fell to the ground.

"Return Ponyta, not too bad Ricki, but this isn't over yet, I choose Growlithe!"

A dog with black stripes and a red body appeared,

"Chikorita use razor leaf!"

"Growlithe, use flamethrower through Chikoritas razor leaf!"

Growlithe leaped back and a mass of fire raced through Chikoritas razor leaf and straight into Chikorita.  Chikorita stood up shaky and Ricki recalled her,

"Go Pichu!"

Pichu hopped down from Ricki's shoulder and faced Growlithe, who seemed to laugh at her sight,

"Pichu use a thundershock!"

Pichu charged up and aimed a powerful thundershock at Growlithe who collapsed with paralyze,

"Growlithe!"  Jacob yelled. "You earned a good rest" Jacob said still shaking recalling Growlithe, "I choose Charmeleon!"

Ricki told Pichu to come back and sent out Scyther,

"Scyther concentrate and remember your training!"

Scyther nodded and the two faced each other with rage in their eyes,

"Charmeleon use a flamethrower!"

"Scyther use your speed and dodge it!"

Scyther disappeared just as Charmeleons flamethrower reached him and appeared behind Charmeleon,

"Scyther use slash!"

Scyther crashed its Slash into Charmeleon, who was flung into the fence, breaking it into two,

"Charmeleon, use fire spin!"

 "Get out of the way Scyther!"

Scyther zipped away and slashed at Charmeleon who use a quick flamethrower on Scyther, who fell back.  

"Charmeleon finish Scyther with another flamethrower!"

"Scyther!"

Scyther looked up and began spinning around swiftly creating a tornado, the flamethrower engulfed Scyther until only smoke emitted from the flamethrower.  Scyther quit spinning and leaped up above Charmeleon,

"Scyther finish Charmeleon with a wing attack!"

Scyther spun in the sky and whipped past Charmeleon.  Scyther landed and looked back as Charmeleon collapsed onto the ground.

"Scyther!  You did it!"

"Man…your very good"

Ricki recalled Scyther and shook Jacob's hand,

"Thanks for the battle"

Jacob nodded and looked at Gabby,

"You want to battle?"

"No thanks…I'm a breeder"

"Oh, my cousin is a breeder, you want to come in?"

Gabby nodded,

"You breed Pokemon on a farm?"

"Yeah, my cousin and his family do"

Gabby and Ricki followed Jacob to a large pink house with a light blue roof.  Jacob opened the door for Ricki and Gabby and heavenly smells of pie filled the air,

"Aunt Iggy!  I meet some trainers, can they stay for dinner?"

"Sure!  You can show them around the farm until time to eat, in about an hour or two"

Jacob led Gabby and Ricki outside and showed them a pasture of roaming Rapidash and Ponyta,

"They're the fastest in the world, and we use them for transportation, they ride out tomorrow if you need a lift somewhere"

Ricki nodded,

"We're heading to Pewter city, how much is it to go?"

"It's two dollars a head, but you two can ride for free," Jacob said winking at Ricki.  Ricki blushed and nodded slowly.

Ricki pulled out her Pokedex and pointed them to a Ponyta and a Rapidash,

            PONYTA, THE FIRE HORSE POKEMON.  PONYTA'S HOOVES ARE HARDER THAN DIAMONDS.  PONYT WILL KICK AT ANYTHING THAT STANDS BEHIND IT.

            RAPIDASH THE FIRE HORSE POKEMON.  THIS POKEMON LOVES TO GALLOP.  THE FASTER IT GOES, THE LONGER THE SWAYING FLAMES OF ITS MANE WILL BECOME.

Jacob lead them further down to a pasture full of Tauros and Miltank,

"My cousin and his family use Miltank for their milk, and they use the Tauros for rodeos they have over in Johto every year"

Ricki pointed her Pokedex at Tauros and Miltank

            TAUROS THE BULL POKEMON.  THIS POKEMON HAS MANY TAILS, WHICH IT USES TO SWAT AWAY BUGS.  ONCE THIS POKEMON STARTS CHARGING IT DOESN'T STOP.

            MILTANK.  THIS POKEMON IS HIGHLY FAVORED FOR ITS NUTISCHISH AND GOOD MILK.  IT IS COMMONLY FOUND IN PASTURE'S AND MEADOWS, TENDING TO THE INJURED AND SICK.

            "Here are the Mareep and Flaaffy, my cousin and his family cut their wool to be used in clothing.  Mareep make your average clothing, but a flaffy's is harder to made and softer, more durable."

"Flaffy and Mareep?" Ricki said pointing her pokedex at the meadow grazing Pokemon.

            MAREEP THE WOOL POKEMON.  IT STORES LOTS OF AIR IN ITS SOFT FUR, ALLOWING IT TO STAY COOL IN SUMMER AND WARM IN WINTER.

            FLAFFY.  THIS POKEMON'S WOOL IS RARE AND SLOWLY GROWS BACK AFTER IT IS SHAVED OFF.  THIS POKEMONS WOOL STORES POWERFUL ELECTRIC CURRENTS AND PRODUCES STATIC ELECTRICTY.

"That's all the Pokemon here gals, I guess dinner is ready now, so we should be heading back"

Ricki and Gabby nodded and followed Jacob back to the house, where delicious smells emitted from the pink house with the blue roof.   Jacob led them into the dining room, which supported a brilliant skylight roof and expensive plates, glasses and silverware lined the table perfectly.  Ricki sat next to Jacob and Gabby sat next to Aunt Iggy and her family.  A maid in a black and white outfit served them their dinner and after they said grace, enjoyed the meal,

"So Ricki, Gabby, where are you from?" Ms. Iggy asked, chewing on a piece of salad.

"I'm from Pewter City, if I may, I hope to ride your Rapidash"

"Of course, you may ride free, Jacob mentioned that to us"

"Ricki, what about you?" Mr. Kevin asked, grabbed another piece of chicken.

"I'm from Pallet town"

"Pallet's a nice place, many top researchers reside there, including Ash Ketchum and Misty Ketchum"

Ricki nodded and dug her fork into her salad and chicken, "Yes, they are very nice people."

They ate and chatted about the weather and soon finished up their pie.  Jacob led Gabby and Ricki around so they could tour the house and lead them to a bedroom on the second floor,

"You can stay here tonight, in the morning, when I leave to continue on my Pokemon quest I'm heading to Pewter city like you two, so we'll leave at 7:00, so we can get there by noon"

Jacob left and Gabby and Ricki each got into their own bed.  Ricki picked the blue one and Gabby picked the pink one.  They released their Pokemon and feed them and went to sleep.

            Ricki and Gabby got up early the next morning and met up with Jacob and Lee who were assigning a group of people to their own Rapidash.  Jacob noticed Ricki and waved to them and showed them to their Rapidash.  Ricki and Gabby hopped on there and Jacob smiled,

"Don't be too scared, but Rapidash run to Pewter city, these guys can hit a hundred miles an hour or more,"

Lee and the others began racing ahead and Ricki, Gabby and Jacob followed quickly behind them.  By noon they had arrived at Pewter city where a giant rock was etched with writing.

                                                                        Welcome to Pewter city

The city built on stone and made of stone

Jacob handed Ricki his PGN number, 005-90 and Ricki saved it into the memory of her PGN.  Ricki and Gabby waved good-bye to Jacob as he headed into Pewter city.  Lee tied up the Rapidash and began leading them back to his home,

"Gabby, where is your house?"

"It's in that cabin over there," Gabby said pointing to a large cabin.  Ricki and Gabby began towards the cabin and when they arrived a man in his forties flung open the door,

"Gabby!"

Gabby leapt into the mans arms,

"I've missed you so much daddy, my group left me…"

"I know, but I'm so glad your save I was so worried about you!"

"Father, this is Ricki, she helped me get back home"

Gabby's father put Ricki down,

"I can't thank you enough Ricki, is there anything I can do for you?"

"No sir"

"Please!  I insist!  Surely there's something you want?  I know, are you a trainer?"

"Yes I am"

"Then how about I just give you a gym badge?"

"No sir, I want to earn it on my own"

"Alright…we'll head to the gym at 3:00 this afternoon, I'll meet you there, you can heal your Pokemon if you need too"

Ricki nodded and said good-bye to Gabby,

"Gabby are you going to come to the gym?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, my dads a rock trainer, so I'd advise you use Chikorita"

"Thanks for the tip Gabby, I'll see you"

Ricki and Gabby waved good-bye as Ricki began into Pewter city.  

            Pewter city was a trantional town.  A few locally owned shops lined the street; many were made of brick and rock, commonly found in the area.  Ricki and Pichu looked around, they had 2 hours to shop till time to head to the Pokemon center and then the gym.  Ricki noticed a Pokemon pet store and walked in.  A lady with bright red hair asked her if she was looking for anything and Ricki shook her head,

"Just looking"

The woman retreated back to the counter and Ricki noticed cages filled with sentret, skitty, Meowth, pidgey and Nidorans.  Ricki skimmed by the rest but one caught her eye.  A Houndour sat in a pen and a necklace with an emerald hung around her neck.  Ricki studied the Houndour and looked at the price tag, 3, 500 dollars.

"Down payment?!" Ricki said aloud.

The woman at the counter smiled and explained,

"This is a very special Houndour, she is the daughter of elite four member Karen's Houndoom.  The total price is 50,000 dollars…if you have that much"  

"Dad has that much" Ricki mumbled,

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking aloud"

"Oh, well, did you see anything else?"

"No ma'am"

"Thank you for stopping by!" The woman said as Ricki opened the door to leave, then heard an alarm go off,

"However ma'am, I think that Pichu on your shoulder needs to stay here, unless you intend to pay for it"

Ricki spun around as two cops grabbed her arms,

"What?!  That's my Pikachu and I can prove it!"

The cops let go of her arms and carried Pichu over to the counter while Ricki pulled out her PGN and handed it to the two cops.  They studied it and nodded,

"So your Ash's fourth daughter huh?  I didn't know you wanted to be a trainer, like you dad"

"Yeah, can I have Pichu back please?"

Gently one of the cops handed her back Pichu, who climbed back onto Ricki's head, and angrily shook her fist at the nearby woman,

"Pichu..!"  Ricki sat grabbing the squirming Pichu and holding her.

"We're sorry ms. Ketchum, this woman here has been losing it for a while, second call this week"

The woman butted in and sneered,

"Well, last week they were all getting stolen, and the one earlier this week was too!"

One of the policemen nodded,

"Yes that's true, but, no need to blame innocent trainers and cause an uproar"

The woman made a hasty retreat into the back of the store and Ricki walked out with the two cops,

"We're sorry again,"

"What kind of disappearances?"

"Well, apparently its Team Rocket's doing's"

"Team Rocket?  They have to be getting up there in age, they were around when my dad was a kid"

"Well, you do know that Giovanni is your grandfather"

Ricki turned in haste,

"I wish people didn't know that"

"Be grateful Ricki, if not for your father and Mother, and your grandmother, and your aunts, and others, they could be a lot worse than what they are now"

Ricki nodded bitterly,

"Bad ole Giovanni, he's about sixty-seven now"

"Well we need to be getting back to our rounds, a good day to you Ms. Ketchum, and keep out of harms way"

Ricki nodded,

"I will, thanks"

Ricki headed towards the center and looked at her watch,

"Guess we can't shop now, we've got to get to the center Pichu"

Ricki quicken her pace and soon was running to the center…it was 2:45.


	7. Mount Moon Adventures

Chapter seven

Ricki gave Nurse Joy her Pokemon,

"Can you heal Pichu and my other Pokemon?"

"Yes ma'am, it must be hard huh?"

"Um?"

"To be famous, your fathers the master, and you've been on television many times huh?"

"Yeah…"

"It seems like only yesterday, your father beat Lance the dragon master for his title, interestingly, no one has seen Lance since, some say that he's training far away over in blackthorn with Clair"

"I've heard about that, thanks"

Ricki took a seat on a bench and pulled out an issue of Gamepro and read a little. She put her magazine back and heard an elevator tune and knew her Pokemon were ready. She got back her Pokemon and began towards the gym when a trainer bumped into her, Kino.

"Kino?!"

"Ricki, I haven't seen you in awhile, what's up?"

"The sky" Ricki said rolling her eyes.

"Cute, anyways, how about a battle?"

Ricki looked at her watch and shook her head,

"Sorry but I can't I'm on my way to the gym to get my first badge"

"Oh, I got my badge earlier there, the gym leaders pretty tough unless you got a grass or water type"

"Then I'm good, I'll see ya around!"

Kino waved good-bye as Ricki raced towards the gym. It was a large building built from stones and bricks so carefully cut. Ricki glanced nervously at Pichu,

"Maybe…no hard feelings?"

Pichu did nothing and Ricki walked in and was greeted by a man with black glasses and an oversize trench coat,

"Hello your Ricki Ketchum right?"

"Yes, I have a battle"

"This way" The man said leading Ricki down the hall to a room covered in darkness.

The man turned on a light switch and Gabby and her father looked at Ricki,

"Ricki Ketchum, the pasts of our families will not interfere in this battle, this battle will be a two on two Pokemon battle, agreed?"

Ricki nodded and Gabby's father threw out his first Pokemon,

"Go Geodude!"

"Chikorita I choose you!"

"A wise choice, wiser than the move your father played, Geodude use magnitude!"

Geodude slammed his fist into the ground and the ground violently shook,

"Chikorita jump up quickly!"

Chikorita managed to leap out of the way and landed on the ground gently and plowed into Geodude,

"Not bad Ricki, now Geodude, use a tackle!"

Geodude tackled hard in Chikorita was sent skidding across the ground into mound of dirt placed on the field. Chikorita shook off the dirt but soon Geodude rammed her once again. The gym leader had begun to laugh to himself,

"It was wise to use a grass type, but water types are far better, grass only works if it is used in age formation. Water works quickly, rock types are pretty strong against Grass types."

Ricki slowly grinned,

"Now Chikorita! Use leech seed!"

Geodude was coming in for a final blow when Chikorita rammed a leech seed into Geodude. Vines emitted from the two seeds covering Geodude, you slowly began losing power and drifted along in the air, getting slower and lower,

"Now Chikorita! Use a vine whip to finish off Geodude!"

Chikorita rammed its vines into Geodude who collapsed and the leech seed lost its grip and toppled to the ground in a heap. Ricki smiled and congratulated Chikorita when the gym leader began laughing,

"This is far from over Ricki, Geodude, use a rock throw now!"

Chikorita turned around and was whacked hard by Geodude and collapsed into the ground. Chikorita had begun panting and Ricki recalled Chikorita,

"Good job, you did very well"

"What Pokemon will you use next?"

Ricki carefully thought over her two Pokemon that she had, Scyther and Pichu. Scyther's weak against rock types, he won't last long enough…. Pichu's attacks with hardly affect Geodude, and who knows what Pokemon the gym leader will pull out next? Ricki debated with herself before turning to Pichu,

"What do you think?"

"PI……chu…"

"You don't know either? I don't want to injury you or Scyther in an impossible battle…but the only other thing is forfeiting…Chikorita is out cold…"

"Well Ricki, is it a forfeit?"

Ricki shook her head and turned to Pichu,

"I chose Pichu, not matter what the odds, and we won't go down without a fight!"

Pichu bounded onto the field as the gym leader chuckled,

"Whatever…Geodude use rock throw!"

"Your geodude's already too weak, Pichu use a quick attack, counter Geodude with your speed!"

"Not so fast Ricki, Geodude slam your fist down on Pichu!"

Geodude began slamming its fists into the ground countually until it became frustrated and quit,

"Geodude…."

"Now Pichu, use your spark attack!"

Pichu appeared clearly in front of Geodude and sent a shock of electricity through Geodude who collapsed onto the ground with a thud. The gym leader recalled his Pokemon,

"Never well done, but are you ready for this?" The gym leader held up a blue colored Pok'eball and released the Pokemon, a Whopper.

Ricki nodded slowly and turned to Pichu, who was still about to explode with energy,

"Whopper is a water and ground type, a grass Pokemon is the only type which has great effect against it…but Chikorita can't battle anymore…"

"Very good, you've been doing research, impressive, so you know that electric type attacks are no good against Whooper?"

Ricki nodded and turned to Pichu,

"Listen, use you speed since Whooper's a bit slow, then attack it when its down, and we'll win"

Pichu understood and began racing around Whooper,

"Alright Whooper, you've trained for this, now use whirlpool!"

"Pichu get out of there!"

Pichu was unable to dodge the large mass of water and was swept up. Ricki looked at Whooper and noticed that water was still emitting from Whooper's mouth, making it a very easy target for a electric attack,

"Pichu give the water a super jolt!"

The gym leader seemed taken,

"Whooper stop it immediately----"

It was too late as a large voltage of electricity spiked through Whoppers body. Whooper collapsed on the spot and the gym leader recalled his Whooper. Ricki picked up Pichu and gave her a huge before Pichu climbed back onto Ricki's shoulder as the gym leader shook Ricki's hand,

"A great and honorable battle Ms. Ketchum, I can't believe what a foolish mistake I made with whooper, and to think you defeated me with a Pichu…I think you have a great future ahead of you, just like your father"

Ricki nodded,

"He's a good man…"

The gym leader placed a badge with a boulder into her hand and Ricki pinned it inside a wallet and stuck it into her pack,

"Thank you again, where's Gabby?"

"Oh, she said that she had something for you…"

"Oh"

"So, how's your father?"

"He's very well, he's the world champ"

"Good, I'll glad, a few decades ago things would've been different, and he'd have been an emotional wreck"

"I know…it sounds so obscure about Brock's death, has he come to you all in ghost form since?"

"…I can't really say, it hasn't been in recent years…last time was about seven years ago, why do you ask?"

"Oh nothing…I just was curious…" Ricki lied remembering her own experience only a little more than a week ago. The gym leader glanced at Ricki, he knows I'm lying, Rick thought to herself.

"Whoops! I feel like the rudest man alive, I haven't even given you my name, I'm Lao"

"Pleased to meet you" Ricki said chuckling.

"You'll have to excuse me…I can be very forgetful about the simplest of things, no common sense is what my dad would say"

Ricki noticed that Gabby ran by and stopped at Lao's side,

"Thanks for waiting, here, I want you to take this"

Ricki took a well-wrapped present from Gabby and opened it carefully not to destroy the well-down wrappings. Inside was a scarf, and a pokeball attached to a chain. Ricki took the scarf and realized it was a Pokemon scarf,

"Gabby, thank you so much!" Ricki gave Gabby a hug and Gabby nodded,

"I can't thank you enough for helping me get back home, I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to be alone, is nice to have someone with you"

Ricki nodded and put the necklace with the pokeball around her neck,

"How does it work?"

"There's a chain in the back of the pokeball, you can't transfer current pokeballs with it, but you can use it to capture other Pokemon, you don't have to use it"

"I'll just wear it, but I love it and the scarf"

"Thanks again Ricki, so where are you heading next?"

"I'm going to do a little shopping around, then I'm heading to the Pokemon center and hopefully tomorrow I'll start towards Mt. Moon."

"Mt. Moon's a mysterious place, lots of Clefairy live there, Gabby said she'd be heading up there in a week to do some training with her cousin Molly, maybe you two will meet on the way."

"That'd be great…I guess I have to go…I want to get my shopping done today, thank you both for everything"

Ricki walked outside and breathed in the afternoon air and looked at her watch, it was already 4:00 p.m and most shops closed at around 6:00-8:00. Ricki noticed a small Pokemon mart and walked in. An older man greeted her and Ricki studied the latest in Pokemon gear,

"Can I help you with anything ma'am?"

"No thanks, I'm just looking around"

"If you need anything I'm just sitting at the counter"

Ricki nodded and looked around and saw many boxes and bottles containing healing of status ailments and things used to recover health. She was still pretty well stocked except for awakening drinks. She picked up three bottles, (bottles can be used many times each before they're used up) and proceeded to the counter and purchased her things and walked back out into the street.

After browsing more shops Ricki returned to the Pokemon center with three bottles of awakening, two Terri Blackstock books and a sketchpad. Ricki looked at the time and walked up to nurse joy,

"Hello, do you have anymore rooms available?"

"Don't worry, we're got a few, take the first one on your left"

Ricki thanked her and collapsed onto the bed in her room and released her Pokemon. She went to the cafeteria and got a pizza and soon her and her Pokemon had wolfed it down and they got ready for bed. Ricki read a little in her new book, [u]Word Of Honor[/u] before falling asleep.

The next morning Ricki recalled Scyther and Chikorita and had them healed before beginning the road to Mt. Moon. Ricki took in the fresh morning air as she gaped at the road ahead. It was a worn, winding dirt road that seemed to ride right through a large cave, Mt. Moon. Ricki turned to Pichu,

"I've been really thinking lately, dad met Brock back in Pewter, I'm still a little freaked out that he visited me…and why me? Why doesn't he visit his family…I mean…. what keeps him attached so much to this world?"

Pichu shrugged and Ricki laughed,

"I wish I could understand what your saying…."

Pichu laughed to herself and Ricki looked up at the still long trail in front of her,

"I really like this fresh morning air, right after it rained…it has a sort of mystery to it…don't you think?"

Pichu nodded and Ricki smiled,

"We're alike in so many ways…its almost frightening…"

Pichu suddenly perked up her ears and hopped of Ricki's shoulder and headed into some bushes and began sniffing around them. Two small pink hands suddenly bolted out from the bushes and grabbed Pichu and she screamed. Ricki raced over to the bushes and felt around for Pichu but couldn't find her and pulled out her hands to see that they were cut and bleeding, it was a thorn bush. Ricki noticed a Clefairy carrying Pichu down the road and Ricki threw out her two Pokemon,

"Hurry, Clefairy is getting away with Pichu. Scyther and Chikorita fell over with laughter at the sight and Ricki retained a straight face despite the sight of things. Scyther and Chikorita raced over to Clefairy and carried her over to Ricki who looked down at Clefairy and took back Pichu,

"Thanks…Pichu didn't need to be carried though…"

Clefairy raced off towards Mt. Moon and Ricki followed her up to Mt. Moon. By the time she had gotten there she had to stop and rest and was unable to find the Clefairy. Pichu slid back down to the ground and looked around and shrugged,

"I wonder what was wrong with Clefairy?"

Pichu shrugged again and began inside Mt. Moon, where a tour group was heading inside one way and another way was blocked off. Ricki and Pichu spotted Clefairy heading in and crossed the yellow lines and walked inside the blocked off area and looked around, it was pitch black. Ricki felt along the gave wall and felt a light switch and flicked it on and looked around. Dozens of Pokemon were in the room, all of them Clefairy. They stopped at looked at Ricki before the group circling a stone pillar moved away and Ricki was able to see what was in the center, an injured Houndour. Ricki walked up to it and noticed it was the rough Hounour form before and noticed its leg was beaten badly. Ricki let her hand fall on Houndour, who opened his red eyes and glared at Ricki,

"What'd are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to help you…your hurt…what happened?"

Hounour turned away from Ricki an she tended to his wound and bandaged it up. Houndour licked the spot before turning away in haste,

"You could've just left me ya' know?"

"I'm tired of guessing…what's wrong…"

Houndour turned away again,

"I don't want to talk about it…it's none of your business."

Ricki shrugged and turned to the clefairies who had began dancing around the stone pillar that Houndour was lying on. Ricki turned back to Houndour who hopped up and walked through a gap the clefairy's had created and walked out into the night air. Ricki walked outside and was surprised and how late it was becoming already. Houndour limped up to the edge of a rock and looked off towards the moon in the distance, it was so close…and yet so far. Ricki took a seat next to Houndour and let her legs dangle over the edge,

"Tell me…what happened"

Houndour seemed to be irritated by the question and turned his head, saying nothing. Ricki sighed and looked at the moon when Houndour spoke,

"You really won't get off my case until I tell you will you?"

Ricki looked at Houndour who was still looking towards the moon,

"It's not that…."

"I don't pour out my feelings to anyone, so don't think I'll tell you either"

Ricki looked sadly at Houndour who looked at her and snorted,

"So ask why don't you, when you stare you give me the creeps"

"Alright, I won't say anything else," Ricki said beginning back into the cave.

Houndour suddenly spoke out,

"It's funny how my life started out…"

Ricki returned to her spot and sat down as Houndour began his tale.

"It's funny how it happened. The very first thing I remember is waking up to a bright summer day and playing with my four brothers and two sisters. My mom and dad were very well respected in our little community, as they were owned by two wealthy business owners. We were served milk and tea, the luxuries that only the rich can afford. The people were nice too; despite being a kid they treated me as an adult. My life was perfect…until my 5th birthday…you probably know that some Pokemon age the same way and some a different way that humans…as a Houndour I age faster, so when I was five, that's about fifteen in human years. So that was my brothers and sisters, all of us were nearing adulthood…. but that all changed when they came that night."

Houndour stopped briefly and looked at Ricki, she was paying full attention. Houndour countiued his story,

"Well, they were Pokemon thieves, they captured my whole family, all but be…they said I was too small and weak and threw me to the side, injuring me badly. I was unable to stop them and I'll never forget the look on my mothers face…as she was helpless and captured…too weak to escape. I ran after them soon after, but I never saw them or my family again. While crying a giant Houndoom picked me up and carried me to a group of tough Houndoom, they had me doing all their work, and taught me how to speak human as I am now…"

Houndour stopped and didn't seem to want to revel anyone of his past, but Ricki blurted out,

"So, why are you injured?"

"I knew you'd ask…well…they wanted me to evolve and become stronger…sure they acted nice and did good deeds…but really all they craved was power. I caught onto them and threatened to report me…they tried to kill me and almost did when a group of Clefairy showed up they helped me, then you showed up and you know the rest"

Ricki put her arms around Houndour and hugged him,

"Oh Houndour…."

Houndour squirmed away and barked at her,

"Don't you dare, leave me alone, why'd I tell you anything?!" With that Houndour jumped down the ledge and raced back through the forest. Ricki let out a sigh and headed back into the cave where the Clefairy and Clefable were all asleep. Ricki grabbed her bags and said good-bye to each indivual Clefairy and jumped back across the ropes blocking the entrance and noticed another tour group going through the cave. She joined them and followed them deep into the cave.

"To your left is a site where fossils have been found of Kabuto and other prehistoric Pokemon"

Ricki yawned to herself and looked at her watch, it was only 9:00 p.m and it was pitch black outside. Ricki's tour group moved slowly through the winding paths of Mt. Moon until they came to a stop at an area of tents,

"Alright folks, its impossible to cross Mt. Moon in a day, so rest up and tomorrow we'll finish, we just got another five miles to go."

The group groaned and each person and family found a tent. Ricki selected a blue one and let out Scyther and Chikorita and got some food that had been prepared by the cooks on the group. Ricki listened to campfire songs and stuffed herself with soup and bread along with her Pokemon before heading into her tent and falling fast asleep.


	8. A boy named Nick

Chapter eight 

The next morning Ricki got up early and stuffed herself and her Pokemon stuffed themselves with pancakes. Ricki and her tour group left and headed deeper into the cave. It wasn't cold like most caves, in fact it was freezing. Ricki shivered as the cave seemed to grow colder and colder with each step and breath that she took. The tour group leader had also begun shivering as they headed past rock formations and nesting zubats. Ricki looked around and sighed, still shivering in the cold.

"Yahoo! Looks like we've finally reached the exit!" An excited man yelled running outside. The tour guide sighed and walked outside to the warm air and the rest of the group walked outside. Ricki looked around and turned to Pichu,

"I'm a little worried about Houndour…do you think we'll ever see him again?"

"Hey you trainer," Ricki felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see a tall man with a yellow beard and two beaming eyes,

"Yes, do you want to trade Pokemon?"

"Trade? I could never trade my Pokemon…"

"Alright then, we'll have a battle, how does a four-on-four battle sound?"

"I don't have four-"

Ricki heard a howl as a Houndour leaped in front of her,

"Houndour?!"

"I'll battle Ricki…this is the man…that ruined by life"

"Eh?" The man stated.

"You…took my family, said I was puny, but it all changes today"

The man laughed,

"Ah yes, the little yelp, it'd be a pleasure, lets also duel using four at once"

"Are you crazy" Ricki said confused.

"Nope, and the winner gets the others Pokemon"

Ricki threw out Scyther and Chikorita,

"This battle is for Houndour"

Ricki's Pichu, Scyther and Chikorita stood along side Houndour and watched as the man sent out his Pokemon,

"The names Mounty, my Pokemon are golem, Machamp, Rapidash and Blastoise, you don't stand a chance.

Ricki gazed at the evolved Pokemon,

"Houndour attack Machamp, Chikorita attack Golem, Pichu you take Blastoise, Scyther cover the others!"

"You guys, attack that Scyther first!"

Hounour launched a fierce flamethrower at Machamp, who fell down, wincing in pain,

"Houndour, you burned him"

"Yeah so?"

Ricki regained her posture,

"Now, lets get them for Houndour!"

Mounty's Pokemon slashed and based Ricki's as soon Chikorita began weakening,

"Chikorita finish his Golem, he's almost down!"

"Golem use roll-out on all her Pokemon!"

Golem formed a ball and rolled right over Chikorita. Ricki recalled Chikorita and hugged Chikrita's pokeball,

"It'll be okay buddy"

"Now Blastoise, use water gun on Houndour!"

"Pichu counter it and use thundershock on Blastoise!"

Pichu released a mighty thundershock, which sent Blastoise into a world of pain. Mounty recalled him and Machamp,

"I'm impressed with you little Ricki and the same for you Houndour,

"But this isn't over, Rapidash burn that Pichu to a crisp!"

"Get out of the way Pichu and use a thundershock, Scyther use a slash attack!"

Each trainer countiued their on slaughter against the other for the next hour,

"Now…. hold it right there both of you!" Houndour said gulping in air. Scyther had fallen, leaving only Houndour and Pichu against Golem and Rapidash, everyone was growing more and more tired by the minute.

Houndour launched a powerful flamethrower at Golem and Rapidash. Golem collapsed and Rapidash still stood weak,

"Pichu, Houndour finis Rapidash with a fire combo bolt!"

Houndour shot out a stream of fire while Pichu charged it sending it straight into Rapidash who slowly collided head first into the ground. Mounty grimaced and recalled his Rapidash,

"You want my worthless Pokemon? Take them!" Mounty screamed throwing his pokeballs at Ricki's feet. Houndour growled at Mounty,

"Tell me where my family is!"

"You really want to know, well I have no idea after I sold a few years back" Mounty hoarsely laughed and walked off, straight into officer Jenny,

"Well, Well, if it isn't Mounty Beaten, finally it looks like we've caught you" Officer Jenny said slapping a pair of handcuffs on him. Ricki grabbed the four fallen Pokeballs and handed them to Officer Jenny,

"He had these," Officer Jenny took them and thanked Ricki for her help and threw Mounty into the cop car and drove off. Ricki and Houndour watched as they disappeared from sight and Houndour began to leave. Ricki caught up with him,

"Yeah, you okay?"

"What part of leave me alone don't you understand?" Houndour said a little irritated.

"Well, I'd like to help you"

"Well don't, perhaps…we'll meet again"

With that Houndour raced off leaving Ricki shaking her head,

"Poor Houndour, if only I could help him" Ricki looked up at Pichu who was weak looking, "The center should be just ahead" Pichu brightened up as Ricki began towards the center.

"What were you thinking?!"

Ricki felt horrible and leaned against a post to get out of Nurse joy's way. Ricki looked at Chikorita who panted for breath, she had gotten hurt in the last battle, and Ricki hadn't noticed it, one of Chikorita's lungs had collapsed. Nurse Joy disappeared into the back room and a doctor approached her,

"So you say that Mounty did it, the Pokemon thief?"

"Yes" Ricki said weakly.

"Officer Jenny is mad at you for the battle, the proper authorities could've handled the situation," The doctor said stopping, "Better"

Ricki slid out of his way and took a seat in a nearby chair and looked around. She noticed a magazine and read it a little before putting it down and sighing. A girl sat next to her with red hair,

"Hiya, the names Monica" The trainer said putting out her hand. Ricki shook her hand and smiled,

"Hi, Ricki"

"Ricki…. that name sounds familiar, last name?"

"Ketchum, the master's daughter"

"Oh wow! You're on a journey? What about your other sisters?"

"They don't like it…. they're more interested in make-up and stuff"

"So you're the tomboy of your family?"

"I guess so" Ricki said quietly and noticed a red light go off and Nurse Joy stepped outside,

"Chikorita would like to see you"

Ricki stood up and walked into the emergency room and saw that her Chikorita was strapped to ventilator, her only source of breathing. Ricki sat down on a chair next to Chikoritas bed and felt like crying,

"Chika, I'm so sorry"

Chikorita didn't move but looked up at the ceiling.

"Nurse joy, how long will she be like this?"

Nurse Joy looked at her charts and sighed,

"Two weeks at least"

"Two weeks?!"

"Is that a waste of time to you like your Chikoritas life? I should turn you in for abuse"

Ricki stared hard at Nurse joy,

"Listen, I didn't know, you should blame mounty"

"Your Chikorita's trainer, you should know better"

Ricki stood up and walked out into the main lobby, Monica was reading a book and Ricki sat down a few chairs down from her and took out her sketchpad and began drawing. Monica looked puzzled at her and countiued her reading. Ricki heard a elevator noise and walked up to the counter and received her Pokemon from a second nurse joy,

"You look like your sister"

"I know, but at least I don't act like her"

Ricki titled her head in confusion,

"What she said to you, I heard from Officer Jenny what happened, Mounty admits that he tried to hurt you, your were protecting yourself, you lucky none of your other Pokemon got hurt" Nurse joy said noting Ricki's confusion.

Ricki took Pichu and Scyther's pokeball and Pichu got on Ricki's shoulders. Nurse Joy smiled at Ricki,

"You're just like your father, black hair and you view Pokemon as friends"

Ricki nodded and looked glumly at the emergency center. Nurse Joy put her hand on Ricki's shoulder,

"Listen, Chikorita will be like this for at least a week, but no more than two weeks, maybe you can visit the town"

Ricki slapped her head,

"My aunts live at the gym, so does my cousin Nick"

"There, you can visit them and Cerulean city is too big to pass up"

Rick clipped Scyther's pokeball onto her belt and Ricki walked outside into the sunshine. Her PGN suddenly rang and she answered it,

"Hello?"

"Ricki? This is Anthony, hiya, where are you?"

"I'm in Cerulean for two weeks"

"Oh? I'm just leaving Pewter, I got my first badge!"

"Great job, so did I"

"Sweet, hey, I'll give you a call when I get into Cerulean city, okay?"

"Sure thing, bye"

"Bye"

Ricki put away her PGN and walked towards the gym.

Ricki ran the doorbell to a large pink mansion and a boy about Ricki's age answered the door,

"Ricki! How are you?" Nick said giving Ricki a hug.

"I hate it when you do that" Ricki said irritated.

Nick put down his cousin, he was 7'0" tall and he loved to pick on shorter people in his family,

"So Ricki, come on in, we've been expecting you"

Ricki walked in and looked around the house had changed a lot since the last time she was here. The wallpaper had raindrops and the rooms theme seemed to circle around water,

"You have redone, it looks very good"

"Thanks, my mom did it, she's so creative, I wish I could be more like her"

Ricki nodded,

"Don't worry, your both creative, remember your art project you did last year in college?"

"Yeah, but that was different…"

"How?"

"Well, it just is, it's a little hard to explain, anyway, how long are you staying?"

"Two weeks"

"That long? How come?"

"Well, one of my Pokemon was nearly killed…"

"What? Your dad almost did that with Pikachu"

"Yes, hes told me that so many times, and I was convinced that I wouldn't let something like that happen to me, and look what happened!"

"Well cousin, the things you say you won't do, usually do happen, like a certain someone who hates farming and cows" Nick said in a singsong voice.

"Yeah, yeah, so I hate cows…"

"And…."

"Farming…"

Nick rolled his eyes,

"Anyway, how about I challenge you to a battle when you try for your gym badge, it's either me, Kevin, Lydia, Monica, Amy, or Helena"

Ricki stared at her cousin, how about we head down to the Pokemon center and I'll decide there?"

"Okay" Ricki Agreed and followed her cousin outside to his blue fifth avenue. Nick unalarmed it and Ricki and Nick got in and Nick backed out of the driveway and onto the road,

"Our house used to be the old gym, but ten years ago it was rebuilt, bigger and more up-to-date like many of today's gyms."

"How come pewter city is a little old fashioned though?"

"Easy, Pewter city is deep in its past"

"Oh" Ricki said softly.

The rest of the way was driven in silence and Nick parked his fifth avenue and locked it and led Ricki inside where a water play was going on. Nick waved to the ticket keeper as he entered and showed Ricki to a seat, the play had just begun. A young woman with blonde hair rose out of the water and gently floated on top of it,

"Am I to ever find true love?"

Mist filled the room and the lights went out. After Ricki's eyes had adjusted to the lights she noticed as a fairy hovered above them young woman,

"Is that was you wish?" The fairy said gently.

The woman stopped crying and looked at the fairy who was short and fat with two crescent wings and a baggy purple dress,

"Why pity a lowly water sprite?"

"Because, it doesn't matter who you are, but what's inside that counts"

"Inside?" Ricki said quietly and closed her eyes rembering Jacob.

Ricki and Gabby hopped on there and Jacob smiled,

"Don't be too scared, but Rapidash run to Pewter city, these guys can hit a hundred miles an hour or more,"

Ricki shook her head,

"What am I thinking?" she screamed drawing the crowd's attention around her. Blushing she sat back down and looked at the puzzled look on Nick's face. Neither of them said anything and countiued to watch the show,

"I'll love you always Opathy," The man said stroking the girl's hair and pulling her in for a kiss.

"And I'll always love you Patrica" The two kissed as the girl was swept back into the water and Opathy cried,

"If only you weren't a water sprit"

The lights came back on and Ricki wiped a tear away from her eye,

"What a sad story, but at least it didn't have a sappy ending"

Nick and Ricki stood up and walked behind the stage and Ricki heard a loud voice from behind her,

"Ricki! How's my Pokemon trainer niece?" Ricki felt herself be lifted by her aunt Lily. Her other two aunts arrived, Clove and Flora. Ricki hugged them and her cousins when Flora said,

"So, are you here to have a battle?"

Ricki nodded, "You bet! But, who can I battle?"

Aunt Lily dove into thought,

"I'm sure Nick would battle you, right Nick?"

"Sure mum, but why so quick, your going to be here for two weeks"

"Two weeks? We can go shopping then!" Ricki's three aunts said at once.

Ricki forced a smile,

"Sure, but better easily than sorry?"

"Sure!" Nick said stepping forward, lets go to the gym room and Aunt Lily, Clove and Flora will watch the battle"

Ricki agreed and walked to the gym room and stationed herself on a floating platform,

"Remember Ricki" Yelled Nick, "Keep balance or you'll lose!"

Ricki moaned and turned to Pichu,

"Are you ready?" Pichu nodded and looked at Nick. Nick smiled and said,

"You know the rules, two on two, no cheating and lets home it doesn't turn out like you dads battle"

Ricki laughed, "Jesse and James haven't even been seen in years though!"

Nick threw out his first Pokemon,

"Mantine I choose you!"

"You up Pichu!" Ricki said turning to Pichu who leaped onto a platform in front of Ricki.

"Remember Ricki, you can move across the platforms just not past the red line"

Ricki nodded and prepared for her second gym battle.


End file.
